Stereosonic Music Festival: Consumer Behaviour

Introduction

Stereosonic is an Electronic Music Festival that occurs once every year around the start of December, and marks the start of the festival season in Australia. Stereo attracts some of the biggest names from around the world such as David Guetta, Calvin Harrris, Skrillex, etc… and fills the line ups with upcoming international DJ’s, as well as local Australian DJ’s. I have been to a number of different music festivals, and Stereosonic is by far my favourite due to the Social atmosphere, the culture of the festival and the general experience of the event. Section A of this paper is a reflective piece on my own ideas, thoughts and background on Stereosonic focusing on social and cultural aspects as well as experience. Section B looks to discuss the theory towards consumer behaviour in response to my own reflection by discussing the social influences towards motivation, the psychographics and symbolic behaviour of consumers as well as the post-decision processes and Servicescape and their influences on consumer experience. Each factor discussed in this paper, has a direct or indirect influence on the others which all relates to the consumer behaviour towards Stereosonic.

Please Note: The Following Paper was done for a postgraduate university assignment in 2015. This is my own work and opinions. All theory and otherwise are referenced accordingly.

Section A - Personal Experience

Social

The social side of Stereosonic is one of the most important factors in my opinion as you party with people you don’t normally socialise with, old friends you haven’t seen in a while and people you meet during the event. Every time I’ve been to Stereo, I always see old friends from High-school, people from university and meet people while I’m there. Music festivals take down the social constraints that are otherwise present in everyday life. Going to a festival with a group of friends is also a major impact on the atmosphere of Stereo as you’ve got a group to experience the festival with. The group only stays together mainly during pre-drinks and the first couple of acts before splitting up to see other acts or even adding other people throughout the day. One thing I’ve noticed is the amount of social media posts there are about Stereo on various forms of social media such as Facebook and Instagram. Photos in particular are usually taken before arriving to the festival before everyone splits up. From my experience and for what I’ve observed over the years, people posting a number of status’ and photos on social media about Stereosonic want to be associated with the festival as well as wanting to alert everyone that they’ll be attending. One thing I’ve noted is that Stereosonic does most of its marketing through the internet through the use of social media which I feel influences consumers to post about, and subconsciously, promote the festival. The social atmosphere brings together different social groups all united by the vibe and the party culture of the festival.

Culture

Culture at Music festivals largely depends on the demographic of the target market they are marketing to. People that attend Stereo from my experience seem to be a part of the “Gym Junkie” psychographic, who gym at an obsessive level, but also enjoy going out to nightclubs while under the influence of alcohol. Majority of Stereo consumers are on the “Shred for Stereo” bandwagon, as well as most people having either a real or fake tan. I think that the culture of Stereosonic is closely linked to the social side as people wanted to be known and associated with the festival by promoting that image of being fit and tanned. Consumers value looks above all else, in particular muscles, tans and abs, which I personally classify as “Zyzz Prodigy’s”. Aziz Shavershian (Zyzz) was a skinny kid that became an amateur bodybuilder who I believe was the main influence to the “Shred for Stereo” and tan culture. From what I’ve noticed, substance abuse is a major issue at festivals, which can be attributed to the “Party” culture in Australia. Substance abuse both alcohol and drug related are always issues with any music festival, but Stereo in particular is notorious for it, as most people that are heavily into the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) are into binge drinking and illicit substances. Obviously, music festivals try to deter substance abuse, however alcohol is sold all around the stages for easy access to consumers.

Experience

The experience of the consumer is determined by a number of factors such as, the social atmosphere, the culture, the music, etc… However one factor that I think has a big impact on consumer experience is the Servicescape of Stereosonic. The way the festival is set up in terms of the different stages and distance from each other, from the bars and the toilets can play a major role in consumer experience. In my experience, the location of the alcohol tents and the toilets in regards to the stages have to be within close vicinity. I’ve had experiences where I’ve missed a good portion of one of my favourite acts due to waiting in line to use the bathroom. The vibe I get from a festival is always positive which the weather, the setup of the stages, and the output of the music and DJ’s playing have a significant influence on. One thing that Stereosonic does that other festivals don’t, is set up rides and attractions for patrons to enjoy their day taking it further than it just being about the music. Spacing is important which makes music festivals so much more enjoyable than nightclubs because you have such a wide space to enjoy the experience without being interrupted. While having a lot of space is important, I think that having too much space between stages is annoying for consumers to constantly move to between different artists which can have a negative effect on the consumer’s experience.

Section B - Consumer Behaviour Analysis

Social Influence towards Motivation, Ability & Opportunity

Social influences have a massive impact on consumer’s motivation and ability, particularly when they are given the opportunity to attend events such as Stereosonic Music Festival. Stereosonic is largely a social event and is heavily peer influenced for the particular demographic of young adults to attend. An online journal article on decision making among the young (Moore & Moschis, 1979, p. 103) supports the social influence of friends by saying that “studies have shown that adolescents’ preferences for products and brands are influenced by those of their peers”. Appendix 1 depicts 4 groups of social influences from two different sources, both marketing and non-marketing, and how they deliver their information to consumers. Stereosonic focuses on, firstly, delivering through mass media marketing such as sales promotions, social media, etc… and secondly, delivering personally through non-marketing sources such as friends, casual acquaintances, etc… Focusing on those two areas of social influence, it allows Stereosonic to reach a greater market through mass media marketing, while also achieving a high level of credibility from personal opinions and experiences. Another online journal article on consumer research (Granbois & Olshavsky, 1979, p.98) supports the ideology that consumers are socially dependent on opinions of others by discussing how a number of studies have suggested that consumers make purchases upon recommendations of personal and non-personal sources. As Stereosonic is a major event and isn’t generally something to spontaneously purchase a ticket for without first taking external factors such as money, time, etc… into consideration. One research article had performed a study on cognitive and affective thought processes in consumer decision making (Fedorikhin & Shiv, 1999, p. 288) and in conclusion found that “when a consumer does allocate processing resources to the decision-making task, the choice is likely to be based primarily on cognitions, resulting in a reduced likelihood that an alternative will be chosen”. In regards to Stereosonic, this study suggests that when the consumer is faced with the choice of whether to attend the event or not, they are more likely to choose to go, after taking external factors into consideration and looking at alternative ways to which attending the festival can fit these particular constraints. Stereosonic utilises a number of Gatekeepers and market mavens through websites such as Moshtix and InTheMix who provide consumers with ways to purchase cheaper tickets and details on information and promotion for the event. Through these opinion leaders, Stereo targets their mass media marketing towards specific reference groups, particularly through social media outlets such as Facebook who can post advertisements in consumers news feeds based on the pages, photos or posts they’ve liked, commented or viewed. Stereo focuses on associative reference groups, which an online journal article states “have a strong influence on general consumption” (Ozaki & Picket-Baker, 2008, p. 282). Associate reference groups can depend on a number of factors, such as demographics, psychographics and the culture of the target market.

Psychographics & Symbolic Consumer Behaviour

Stereosonic’s marketing initiative identifies the demographic of their target market, but focuses primarily towards the psychographics due to the impact of the specific culture associated with music festivals. An article online discussing the importance of psychographics in marketing (Wells, 1975, p.197), suggests that psychographics “embrace a wide range of content, including activities, interests, opinions, needs, values, attitudes and personality traits”. Stereo focuses on trying to achieve a positive festival experience by appealing to the attitudes, opinions and interests of the consumer through their values and beliefs, however, these characteristics are largely dependent on the culture of the target market and in turn the symbolic consumer behaviour. A journal article, defines the symbolic meaning as “things which stand for, or express something else” (Grathwohl & Grubb, 1967, p. 24). In other words, an event such as Stereosonic has a symbolic meaning to consumers as an expression of interest in the music, festivals in general, or even the summer party vibe. Symbolic meaning largely depends on the psychographics and demographic of the target market, which can be attributed to several factors such as culture, social influence, etc... Appendix 2 suggests four different functions (Emblematic, Connectedness, Role Acquisition and Expressiveness) that consumers define the symbolic meaning of a product, service or event with in regards to culture and individuality on one side to the consumer being defined as a group member or individual on the other. Stereosonic falls under two of these functions, Emblematic and Connectedness as the event defines the consumer as more of a group member rather than an individual. Emblematic function suggests that consumers use Stereosonic to symbolise membership in social groups which is how reference groups mentioned previously influence decision making. Connectedness function suggests that Stereosonic symbolises personal connections to significant people, events and experience which supports the idea that Stereo appeals to the attitudes, opinions and interests of the consumer. Experience is a major factor to any event because that can influence the consumer to combine their attitudes, values and beliefs to adopt a new role as an influencer and in-turn adopt their own personal symbolic meaning of an event such as Stereosonic. The consumer’s opinion on Stereo, depends on their overall experience which comes down to their post-decision process of the event.

Post Decision Processes and Servicescape Influence

The post-decision process is where the consumer evaluates their choices on the product, service, or in this case, their experience of Stereosonic. The post-decision process focuses on comparing the consumer’s own evaluation of their experience after an event, to what their interpretation of the experience was beforehand. Stereosonic experience would focus on post-decision regret and dissonance due to consumer anticipation and decision making. An online journal article defines regret as “the negative, cognitively-based emotion that we experience when realising or imaging that our present situation would have been better had we acted differently” (Brehaut, Feldman, Hack, Gordon, O’connor, Siminoff & Wood, 2003, p. 282). Consumers at music festivals can face regret due to being under the influence of alcohol and various other substances to the point where they ruin their own or another’s experience. Consumers can face dissonance by choosing one DJ set over another that was playing at the same, which didn’t live up to expectations. An online book discussing the theory of cognitive dissonance summarises the definition of dissonance as “two elements are dissonant if, they do not fit together… they may be inconsistent or contradictory” (Festinger, 1962, p. 12-13). In this instance, the two elements are the two acts performing at the same time, and the consumer chose one with the initial interpretation that it was the better of the two, however, upon reflection of the experience, realised they would have enjoyed the other act more. Stereosonic has already looked to minimalize regret from substance abuse by providing medical tents and selling half strength alcohol, to reduce the amount of consumers getting under the influence easily. To reduce dissonance by missing two acts performing at the same time, they could focus on the Servicescape of the festival so that stages aren’t too far away from one another so consumers can jump from one to the other without missing too much of the performance. An article online summarises Servicescape as having three dimensions, ambient conditions, spatial layout and functionality, and signs, symbols and artefacts (Brewerton, Hausman, Minor & Wagner, 2004, p. 10). Reducing the dissonance in the example mentioned before, Stereosonic organisers could look to make changes and improvements to the spatial layout. Minimalizing dissonance and regret will influence consumer’s behaviour to attend the festival again. Another article states that “individuals form a holistic mental image based on elements in the servicescapes, which influences emotional/affective response” (Lin, 2004, p. 172). In other words, the Servicescape of Stereo is a major contributor to experience as through the three dimensions, it influences their overall attitudes, values and beliefs and creates a symbolic meaning to the consumer.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the social atmosphere, festival culture and experience have major impacts on marketing towards consumers that attend Stereosonic Music Festival. Overall three factors influence consumer behaviour towards Stereo, firstly the social influence towards motivation, ability and opportunity through mass media marketing and reference groups. Secondly, the psychographics and culture of the consumer can help develop a symbolic meaning towards Stereo through the individual’s experience. Finally, the evaluation of the experience in the post-decision process can help reduce dissonance and regret, in particular by the influence of the Servicescape of the event. These factors have an impact on each other both directly and indirectly, with the focus primarily on consumer behaviour, before, during and after the event.

References

Brehaut, J., Feldman-Stewart, D., Hack, T., Gordon, E., O’connor, A., Siminoff, L. & Wood, T. (2003). Validation of a Decision Regret Scale. Medical Decision Making. Vol. 23, no. 4. Pp.281-292. Doi:10.1177/0272989X03256005

Brewerton, J. Hausman, A., Minor, M., & Wagner, T. (2004). Rock On! An elementary model of customer satisfaction with musical performances. Journal of Services Marketing. Vol. 18. Iss. 1. Pp. 7-18. Doi:10.1108/08876040410520672

Fedorikhin, A. & Shiv, B. (1999). Heart and Mind in Conflict: The Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 26, No. 3. Pp. 278-292. Doi:10.1086/209563

Festinger, L. (1962). A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Standford University Press. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=voeQ-8CASacC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=post-decision+dissonance+definition&ots=9x64KxnaAD&sig=jV3_7ylAwNIt7_zyDWbR8fBAa_s#v=onepage&q=post-decision%20dissonance%20definition&f=false

Granbois, D. & Olshavsky, R. (1979). Consumer Decision Making-Fact or Fiction? Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 6, No. 2. Pp. 93-100.

Grathwohl, H. & Grubb, E. (1967). Consumer Self-Concept, Symbolism and Market Behaviour: A theoretical Approach. Journal of Marketing. Vol. 31, No. 4, part 1. Pp. 22-27. Doi:10.2307/1249461

Lin, I. (2004). Evaluating a Servicescape: the effect of cognition and emotion. International Journal of Hospitality Management. Vol. 23. Iss. 2. Pp. 163-178. Doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2003.01.001

Moore, R. & Moschis, G. (1979). Decision Making Amoung the Young: A Socialisation Perspective. Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 6, No. 2. pp. 101-112.

Ozaki, R. & Picket-Baker J. (2008). Pro-environmental products: marketing influence on consumer purchase decision. Journal of Consumer Marketing. Vol. 25. Iss 5. Pp. 281-293. Doi:10.1108/07363760810890516.

Wells, W. (1975). Psychographics: A critical review. Journal of Marketing Research. Vol. 12, No. 2. Pp. 196-213. Doi: 10.2307/3150443

Appendix

Appendix 1 – Social Influences

Griffin, D. 7210MKT Advanced Consumer Decision Making Module 2 Lecture Notes. 18/05/2015

Appendix 2 – Consumption Symbols

Griffin, D. 7210MKT Advanced Consumer Decision Making Module 10 Lecture Notes. 18/05/2015　

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